Re: Re: Helerings of Wenelia and Umathela (and pine cone flaming)

From: Peter Metcalfe <metcalph_at_Wu-70ifJgxH3RE0X_8QmCX-Od4WYiDZcfu4jeXSNCTHensnMIoLd37r4oC6uYRoj1ag>
Date: Wed, 06 Jun 2007 00:08:06 +1200


At 11:10 p.m. 5/06/2007, you wrote:
>Peter F. Metcalfe
> > > > The myth, it turns out, is better placed in the
> > > > Trachodon Marsh in Wenelia.
>
> > >Roughly from where the early 2nd Age Jrusteli storm people of the
> > >southern bay immigrated from, before they went on to the Enklosan and
> > >Vralan fields of eco-warfare along the rivers.
>
> > Wrong. The Umathelans have their origins from all over the
> > barbarian belt, not just Wenelia.
>
>Unsubstantiated statement. There is no mention of mass emigration from
>northern Ralios, anywhere in southern Peloria or Dragon Pass overseas.

Who said anything about mass emigration? All that is needed is for the God Learners to take people from Ralios (east and north), Fronela, Heortland, Esrolia, Wenelia and Slontos and they've got the majority of the barbarian belt covered.

>There was some mention for Slontos. You might be able to contrive a
>case about Oranor near Akem, but that's nowhere published.

An argument about absence of evidence is fucking weak when when nobody's bothered to write anything about it.

>Where did the God Learners get all those farming barbarians from? The
>EWF wasn't selling. Neither the Only Old One, and by the time western
>Kethaela was under GL control, the seas were about to close.

This is fucking bullshit. There's nothing to prevent the EWF or the OOO from selling anything to the God Learners. The EWF had plenty of troublesome Orlanthi for example and selling them to the God Learners as slaves is win-win.

> > Something that I wish
> > David Dunham would get a fucking clue about for once
> > instead of just populating Umathela with fucking boring
> > stupid fucking pig fuckers.
>
>A bit of repetitious cussing.

Not half as repetitious as filling Umathela and Wenelia with pigs in the first place.

>Sheep won't do well in that forest, I suppose, but cattle oughta.

What happened to goats? Or sloths? Forest rats? Okapis? Manatees? Tinimits? This is Pamaltela, it's supposed to be different.

>Some lion barbarians would be fun, too.

As has already been done to death in Prax, Wenelia, Peloria and Ralios.

> > Which only demonstrates that you don't know what the ecological
> > benefit is
>
>Sez who?

Me.

> > or how the Aldryami mentality works.
>
>Ok, I'm no potted plant.

One would have expected a person with arborists for ancestors to have a better understanding of plants and elves than simply treat them like people.

> > The fire is a catastrophe to be survived through.

>Fucking nonsense.

>Umathela was inter-aldryami genocide zone.

I've never heard of elves using fire as a weapon before and they exterminated the Lascerdans for slash-and-burn tactics. Come to think of it, if the elves were comfy with the concept of being burned to death then they wouldn't be having a beef with the Lunar Empire for Rist and Erigia.

> Some plants went way over
>the top to eradicate all others, taking the lizard riverfolk with them
>en passant.

Nope. The lascerdans were wiped out circa 500 ST _after_ harmony was reached between the elves around 364 ST.

>Aldryami subspecies in Umathela are likely to be at each
>others' roots with the same vehemence as your average Orlanthi clans.

Clue: read the sources before finding fault with what I say rather than post any old shit that comes to your head.

>So, if one group of species benefits from what is a catastrophe for
>the rest, what are the odds they don't use it?

Quite good when its something they are afraid of and that its something that their enemies use against them. A eucalypt elf might encourage his enemies to burn down a forest in the hope of strengthening the eucalypts therein. But the elves as a whole are guided by the song of the forest which inhibits them from taking such action.

> > The best situation for a
> > tree is that there be no fires whatsoever.
>
>For a tree, true. For a forest, _not_. Unmitigated growth will lead to
>strangling vines (ficus trees) first smothering the rest of the higher
>trees, then exhaustion of the soil from monoculture. Occasional
>enforced rejuvenation will keep the forest healthy.

Which the elves can easily accomplish without lighting fires? Or are elves lazy with fat-arses in your glorantha?

>However, forests come in many stages, and the colonist tree species
>all thrive on the aftermath of forest fires.

Tell me. When was the last time the Black Forest had a major fire? In the vicinity of Mt St Helens, there are tons of dead tree trunks lying around that were killed by the eruption. But years after the eruption, they hadn't burned because it was too wet.

> Unlike Enkloso,
>Vralos never was reported as "depopulated of aldryami".

If the God Learners can clear out Enkloso of Aldryami, they pretty much would have cleaned out Vralos which is the smaller forest and was hit first.

>(Even so, I doubt that the God Learners penetrated much deeper than
>the barbarian human settlements. Certainly never to the Tarien
>borders.

Why this doubt? If they could reach Jolar then they could go through any elfless forest.

>And they tend to forget that aldryami seeds can be stored in
>the soil until some releasing event - like a fire - brings them to
>fruition.)

Going by that logic, Prax must be full of Redwoods while there are still forests in Rist and Erigia.

--Peter Metcalfe            

Powered by hypermail